In this review of The Unchosen #1, we meet Aida, a young student learning to use a mysterious power known as The Word. But she also has a devastating and uncertain past.
The Unchosen #1
Writer: David Marquez
Art and Main Cover: David Marquez
Colors: Marissa Louise
Variant Covers: David Marquez, Peach Momoko
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: July 9, 2025
This review contains spoilers
The Unchosen #1 opens with a teenage girl waking up alone in a large smoking crater. After this brief, puzzling intro, we cut to “NOW,” where this same girl (whom we will learn is named Aida) is running through the woods looking for her friend Daniel. She finds him upset over a dead bird he’s found. They’re interrupted by several other students led by local bully Ezra. These youths are students at a school where they are learning to channel a power called “The Word.” Ezra tries to use this power to revive the bird. The art and lettering take a chaotic beautiful turn here.
Aida begs him to stop before “one punching” him in the nose. This skirmish is interrupted by Alex (a teacher? A prefect?) and Vasha. Alex takes Aida to the side to talk briefly about how she’s special and how they are trying to keep her safe.
The story jumps to “THEN,” which matches with our intro sequence. Aida is still in the crater when Alex and Vasha pop over the side of the crater looking for her. She doesn’t know who they are, but it’s unclear if she has some memory loss or if she just hasn’t met them yet. A small paramilitary group shows up looking for Aida, but is easily dispatched by Vasha, who acts as Aida’s guardian. As they flee, they are met by four antagonists called the Kayaar. It’s some very hack-and-slash fighting in small panels. It’s unclear exactly what power each combatant has. There’s not much to distinguish these four except a separate color for each combatant’s power—the coloring does a great job here of distinguishing each person’s powers in this fight.
They escape as Alex uses his power to open a giant doorway. The sequence where Aida falls through the doorway shows many scenes and images we haven’t seen yet—possible images of the past (or future?) We end with a dramatic splash page of a beautiful fortress where Aida is invited to join them.
Analysis
Let’s look at each half of The Unchosen #1. Aida is well characterized in the first half—compassionate, yet strong. Ready to weep with a friend one moment and ready to stand up to a bully the next moment. This opening sequence also raises a lot of questions: What is The Word? What are its limits? Can different people use The Word differently? The first half also sets up the dynamic between Aida and Alex.
However, in the second half of The Unchosen #1, Aida is mostly just reacting to things—soldiers are after her, her missing mother, etc. There are no narrative captions, so we are unable to get into the head of our protagonist. The only agency Aida shows in this story is her “one punch” reaction to Ezra in the first half.
There’s a missed opportunity with the four Kayaar. Aside from the leader, they are fairly generic and interchangeable. In their splash page introduction, they are almost completely covered in smoke and fog.
Visually, there is little to distinguish one from another. If you’re going to spend an entire page on the introduction of four villains, let’s see them. We learn little about them or their motivations. The scene with the military squad should have been omitted to give us more time with these villains. More questions are raised with the Kayaar: Do they have some unknown connection with our protagonists and her friends? Are they random bad guys? Do their powers come from The Word? If Marquez had skipped the useless paramilitary soldiers, we could have had more time with these villains and learned more about their powers and their motivations.
On a separate note, the coloring in The Unchosen #1 does a great job of distinguishing the two time frames: bright and colorful in the “NOW,” while dark, smoky, and moody in the “THEN.” Perhaps the most intriguing thing in this book is the title itself: Unchosen. This word is never mentioned or explained in the story. Who is “un”chosen? What does that mean? Who is it that is “un”choosing these people?
Final Thoughts
The Unchosen #1 poses many questions about its world and its characters—perhaps too many questions. There’s nothing wrong with posing questions for the reader, but providing a few answers as well is helpful. A writer should give the reader a few bread crumbs to sate their hunger, yet still keep them hungry for more. If a reader is left with nothing but a hunger, they may look to find food elsewhere. It is a curious beginning to a new world and story.
